Harriet Tubman Learn English through story level 3

harriet tubman the slave who escaped

and helped hundreds of other slaves to

escape

[Music]

i escaped from slavery in the south

of the usa i then

helped hundreds of other slaves to

escape to the north of the usa

and canada i also freed hundreds of

slaves

who wanted to fight in the civil war

my parents were slaves for the brodess

family

in maryland usa i was the fifth

of nine children at the age of six

i started work as a nurse maid for

another family

after that i had to work in the woods

and fields

our owners did not think of us as people

for them we were like animals or

machines

if we did something wrong they hid us or

punished us

in horrible ways

in 1831 at the age of 11

i started to do the same work as the

adult slaves

every day we had to work for many hours

in the fields

around this time i received an injury

which i never forgot i refused

to stop a slave who was escaping

the slave’s owner threw a metal weight

at the slave

but it hit me on the head it hurt a lot

and this injury gave me headaches for

the rest of my life

in 1849 i was brave and tried to escape

i was married by then but my marriage

was very

unhappy and i hated the thought of

another year

of slavery two of my brothers agreed to

come with me

we wanted to reach the north of the usa

where slavery was illegal i could live

there as a free woman

we made good progress towards the north

but then we heard some bad news

our owner was offering 300

to anyone who caught us

my brothers became frightened and we

decided to return to maryland

we were punished when we returned but i

still

wanted to escape

a short time later i escaped again

this time i went alone i traveled at

night

along quiet roads and paths

some kind people helped me on the way

they gave me food and a place to sleep

finally i arrived in the city of

philadelphia in the north

the journey was long and difficult but

it felt

wonderful to be free at last

in philadelphia i got a job and began to

earn money

i missed my parents and my brothers and

sisters

i was free and i wanted my family to be

free too

maybe i could help them to escape

in 1850 i received some bad

news my niece and her daughters were in

danger

their owner wanted to sell them and they

didn’t want to go to different families

i decided to return to maryland to free

them

i had to help them to escape we traveled

at night

and used the stars to find our way to

the north

after helping my niece and her daughters

i helped many other slaves to escape

i offered to help my husband john tubman

too

but he didn’t want to leave the south

he didn’t want to be with me anymore so

our marriage

ended

[Music]

soon a new law made things a lot more

difficult for me

it became illegal to help a slave to

escape in the usa

i had to find a new route to canada

where slavery was illegal

in 1857 i went on a very special journey

to help my parents

they weren’t slaves anymore but their

life in the south was very difficult

they were very happy to see me again and

wanted to go with me to canada

our journey was very slow and difficult

because my parents were old

we had a big celebration when we finally

arrived in ontario canada

[Applause]

in 1861 the american civil war started

the confederates from the south wanted

slavery

to continue the unionists from the north

wanted slavery to become illegal

i joined the union army which fought for

the north

an army captain james montgomery heard

about me

he discovered that i helped slaves to

escape

before the war and he wanted my help

he wanted slaves to fight for freedom in

the union army

i took a team of spies to the south and

found

slaves who wanted to join us

it was dangerous work but we were very

successful

on one trip 700 slaves agreed to escape

and they became soldiers

on the 9th of april 1865

the war ended what could i

do with my life now

i decided to fight for equal rights for

black people

and for women

i spoke at public meetings and i tried

to help black

people who were poor and old

in 1896 i bought some land

and in 1903 i gave the land to my church

i wanted the church to start a home for

black people who were poor

and elderly in 1908

the home opened for the first time

as i looked back at my life i was very

proud

i was happy that i helped so many people

to fight